PILC holds successful Annual Christmas Bazaar

The Pattaya International Ladies Club (PILC) held one of its most successful Christmas Bazaars at the Hilton Hotel in Pattaya on Saturday, November 3. Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh opened the event. “We are fortunate in Pattaya to have an organization like PILC,” Ronakit said.

“This club of international ladies has been in our city for over 25 years, and they add so much to Pattaya and beyond. I have held my position of deputy mayor for many years, and for as long as I can remember, the Ladies Club has been here in Pattaya. I have seen our city grow over the years, and many new things are here now. It is comforting to know that some of the older foreign organizations, such as the Ladies Club, are stronger than ever after so many years.”

The Christmas Bazaar, which has become a signal for the opening of the Christmas shopping season here in Pattaya, featured 80 vendors from all over Thailand, many of whom do not sell their wares in mainstream shops, thus giving buyers a chance to find goods that are not available elsewhere.

lmost 1,000 visitors attended the event over the course of the day. “This year’s Bazaar, our 20th, was a huge success,” said PILC President Ann Winfield. “The vendors were very happy with the turnout and attendees were delighted with the selection of products on sale. The Hilton Hotel pulled out all the stops to help us make our 20th Anniversary Bazaar a memorable one.”

PILC uses the bazaar to raise funds that allows the club to support numerous charities in the Pattaya area.

This year, the Club added an activities component to the bazaar to entertain those people who wanted a break from shopping. A children’s activity area provided a coloring competition for three age groups, a face painting station, and a wonderful Santa’s Grotto, complete with a post box where children could post their Christmas toy wish lists. The Fountain of Life had a foot massage area and were kept busy all day with weary shoppers getting a little foot relief.

In addition, the day included a full schedule of entertainment, which was a departure from previous bazaars. Music students from the St. Andrews International School gave excellent musical presentations. “The St. Andrews students were so professional in their presentations and demeanor,” said Ann, “we were all very impressed.”

Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh cuts the ribbon to officially open the event.

Mr. Penguin entertained everyone with his magic tricks; a fashion show highlighted beautiful hand-made clothing designed by Finestra, one of the bazaar’s vendors; three dance exhibits from students at local dance studios, and Mr. Jimmy Sinatra made an appearance to entertain the audience as well.

As well as the commercial vendors, some of the charities supported by PILC also had tables. These included Ban Jing Jai Children’s Home, Dek Dee Early Learning Centre, Phu Luang “Our Home” quilters, North Star Library, the Mercy Center, Fountain of Life, and many more.

A future Patriots’ fan rests up during the busy proceedings.

Central Festival also participated in the bazaar this year: they asked people who attended to bring along a used toy to donate to PILC’s charities. In return, each donor received a THB 100 voucher to spend in the store. The toys will now be distributed as Christmas gifts to the children in the many projects that PILC supports. A Central Festival spokesperson said that the store had collected hundreds of toys, and had given out over 20,000 baht in vouchers.

Jewelry vendors display their beautiful wares.

Special Events Chairperson Ananya Welland was very pleased with the corporate sponsorship the bazaar received this year. “We have had a massive response to our sponsorship plea this year, and I would just like to take the opportunity to thank all our corporate sponsors, including Caterpillar, BJV, Asian Tigers Transpo, Foster Wheeler, Bumrungrad Hospital, Esso, Jelly Belly Candy Company, and JVK International Movers,” she said. “We also have many private sponsors, such as Linda’s Restaurant footing the bill for our printing costs, for example, and of course there are many businesses, hotels and shops in Pattaya who have given generously to the Bazaar Raffle, which raises even more money for our welfare work. There are really so many to thank. We certainly couldn’t have done it without them and their generosity!”

At the end of the day, just prior to the event’s closing, Arlette Cyckman, long-time Pattaya resident and founding member of PILC participated in a cake cutting ceremony to celebrate the 20th Anniversary. The cake was then distributed amongst all of the attendees, volunteers, and staff.

Many people were not able to stay for all of the raffle number draws, but you can find all of the raffle winners on the PILC website at www.pilc-pattaya.com and printed in the Pattaya Mail. If you find you have won a prize, please email [email protected] for details on how to collect your prize. All prizes must be collected by November 30, 2012.